Characterization and sociocultural predictors of neuropsychological test performance in HIV+ Hispanic individuals.
Hispanic individuals in the U.S. have been disproportionately impacted by HIV/AIDS, yet little is known regarding the neuropsychological sequelae of HIV within the Hispanic population. This study characterized neuropsychological (NP) test performance of HIV+ English-speaking Hispanic participants (n = 51) and investigated the combined roles of sociocultural factors (e.g., ethnicity, socioeconomic status [SES] proxy, and reading level) on NP test performance among our HIV+ Hispanic and non-Hispanic White participants (n = 49). Results revealed that the pattern of NP impairment in HIV+ Hispanic participants is consistent with the frontal-striatal pattern observed in HIV-associated CNS sequelae, and the overall prevalence of global NP impairment was high compared to previous reports with more ethnically homogeneous, non-Hispanic White cohorts. Multivariate prediction models that considered both sociocultural factors and CD4 count revealed that reading level was the only unique predictor of global NP functioning, learning, and attention/working memory. In contrast, ethnicity was the only unique predictor of abstraction/executive functioning. This study provides support for the use of neuropsychological evaluation in detecting HIV-associated NP impairment among HIV+ Hispanic participants and adds to the growing literature regarding the importance of considering sociocultural factors in the interpretation of NP test performance.
Mindt
Monica Rivera
MR
Fordham University Department of Psychology, New York, NY 10023, USA. monica.mindt@mssm.edu
Byrd
Desiree
D
Ryan
Elizabeth L
EL
Robbins
Reuben
R
Monzones
Jennifer
J
Arentoft
Alyssa
A
Germano
Kaori Kubo
KK
Henniger
Debra E
DE
Morgello
Susan
S
D000328:Adult; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology*; D003469:Culture; D004522:Educational Status; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology*; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011584:Psychology